5 Tips to help you stay awake the day after

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Before I became a parent I thought that babies slept through by the time they were a year old.

Boy, was I wrong!

Over the past week or so, I have been battling with a persistent lack of sleep due to Bo coming down with a cold and those pesky teeth deciding to make an appearance at the same time. As a result, I have had to put all of my fatigue busting techniques in to practice in order to just get through each day.

So, as I know a lot of you are also struggling with sleep deprivation, I thought I would share my five top tips for helping you stay awake, and feel the best you can, the day after a rough night.

1. Start the day off with a cup of tea or coffee.

Although I wouldn't advise propping yourself up on caffeine all day (I don't know about you but this gives me a headache) starting the day off with a nice hot cup of tea or coffee can give you the quick boost that you need to get the day rolling and kick you out of the morning fuzz.

2. Keep hydrated.

After having your first cup of tea, it is important to stay hydrated throughout the day - preferably with water. Dehydration can intensify the symptoms you get from being sleep deprived, including a fuzzy head, headaches and difficulty thinking straight. By keeping hydrated you should be able to hold the majority of these symptoms at bay, stopping you from feeling poorly and helping you feel more human.

3. Eat healthily and don't get too full.

Now, I'm not saying that you have to eat salads all day, every day, but having a good, healthy, hearty meal at each mealtime can provide you with an extra boost of energy to get you through the rest of the day. At the same time, do not over-stuff yourself with food as this can leave you feeling lethargic and sometimes poorly.

4. Get moving.

By this I don't mean exercise - though feel free to do this if you like! Instead, keep yourself active by planning things throughout your day, such as going out window shopping or having a coffee with friends. If you are planning on staying in the house, actively involve yourself in your little one's play or even do some housework. Although it is very important to rest at the end of each day (get an early night or spend some time pampering yourself) I find that, if I stop and relax, my body succumbs to the tiredness and I struggle to get going again.

5. Keep your mind active.

As well as keeping your body active, make sure to keep your mind active. I have always found that when I get bored, I get very tired. Therefore, to help me last through the day, I try to keep my mind active and entertained - not to the point that it gets overstimulated, but instead so that it never gets the chance to feel bored. To do this, I do things such as reading whilst the baby is asleep, putting the radio on, joining a class and learning more in your spare time or even taking on a project such as a blog!

So there you have them - my top five tips on how to beat the fatigue after a difficult night.

Do you have any other tips for beating sleep deprivation? If so, let me know in the comments below!

I have linked this post on PoCoLo on the Morgan Prince blog and on The List on the You Baby, Me Mummy blog.

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Hi Emma, all good tips. I never drank coffee until I had children, now I can't imagine starting a day without it. When I am tired I prefer not to sit down, if I do it's odds on that I will start nodding off. Today I sat down with my son (who's eighteen) to do some speech therapy and nodded off about five times... Never a good thing.

Not over eating is a great tip as most of us feel like a doze when we are full even if we aren't tired.

I love these ideas but as a Granny I get my beauty sleep each night! I would add, have a snooze when toddler sleeps, just half an hour not too long (makes me feel worse) just enough to recharge batteries #thelist